Sonic Legacy: Downfall
by Grant Crose
Summary: Robotnik is gone, but a new hazard is rising from the darkness of violence and corruption, Tails and Blaze The Cat have teamed up to confront the matter. Note: This is a work of mere fiction, any supernatural concept depicted here shall not be believed in or practiced in any way. Violence of any kind is not encouraged in any way.
1. Ice Cold Trip

Sonic Legacy: Downfall

Chapter I: Ice Cold Trip

Tails was sitting next to his wife on one of the many benches inside the aircraft, Tanya the cheetah, a woman she met back on the island where he had been living even since before the death of his friends, Sonic, Amy and Knuckles. Blaze the cat, owner of that futuristic vehicle, activated the autopilot by pressing a button on the console of the control center, she stood up from the pilot seat and approached Tails and Tanya. "You two should take some rest; we still got two hours ahead to arrive."

"Maybe later." Tails yawned and looked at her with a grateful grin. "But thanks, Blaze."

"What about you?" Blaze looked at Tanya, whose face revealed some tiredness.

"I'm okay." Tanya hugged Tails and rested her head over his shoulder. "I'm good here."

Blaze chuckled. "I'm sure you are." She looked at Tanya's rudimentary attire that consisted in a brown loincloth and a tube top of the same color. "You see, I have some extra clothes in my quarters, the place we are heading to is quite cold and you'll be better suited up for the mission."

Tanya looked at her. "Uhm, yeah." She broke the hug from her husband and stood up. "But, are you sure?"

Blaze nodded with a smile. "Let me get them." She walked away from them to go to her room and gather the clothes for Tanya.

When Blaze left them alone, Tanya sat down again and glared at Tails. "This will be great."

Tails raised an eyebrow and looked at her. "What do you mean?"

Tanya rolled her eyes and embraced Tail's arm. "Come on, like the thrilling adventures you've told me about! I'm finally living one with you!"

Tails sighed. "I know they sound like fun, but one always ends up losing something at the end, call it the mission, a friend or even a part of oneself."

Tanya put a hand on his shoulder. "Well, we also lost plenty back on the island, but we got through."

Tails nodded rather forcefully while lowering his gaze. "I think I've just accepted it." He glanced back at her eyes. "This world saving life will always drag me back, no matter what I do to get away from it."

"Love." Tanya took his hands. "Nothing is dragging you to anywhere." She kissed him briefly. "You are here because you decided to help." She hugged him. "Because you're a good person."

"Not good enough to save him." Tails said.

Tanya sighed. "We've discussed this before, that's in the past, Tails, my son is at peace now."

"What if I can't save you? What if I lose you?" Tails broke the hug and caressed her arms. "We should've stayed in the island."

"No, Tails." Tanya shook her head. "The world needs our help." She put her index finger on his chest. "They need you."

Tails got thoughtful for a moment then sighed and rested his head on the wall, glancing at the ceiling. "Maybe."

Before Tanya could say anything else, Blaze approached her as she was carrying some folded clothes. "I'm sure these will fit you well." Blaze handed her the clothes. "I think there's a pair of boots on the closet of your room, you are free to try them on."

Tanya stood up and glanced briefly at the clothes then looked at Blaze. "Thank you." She smiled gratefully and walked towards the room she was sharing with Tails and closed the door. She put the clothes on the bed, they consisted in a long sleeved white T-shirt and a pair of dark green cargo pants, she then approached the closet and opened it, glancing down to look for the boots Blaze had mentioned, which were indeed there.

Meanwhile, Blaze was talking with Tails, sitting on the bench before him. "He seems nice." Tails said as they were talking about Blaze's son who was taking a nap in his room at that moment, Spark the raccoon. "Wonder from who he got that."

Blaze let out a chuckle. "I'm sure he got it from his father."

"You three must be a good family." Tails said.

Blaze lowered her gaze slightly. "Yes, we were."

"Oh." Tails expressed. "Sorry, I didn't know…"

Blaze interrupted him. "It's okay, Mel died a long time ago."

Tails stood quiet then tried to change the conversation. "So, this intel you have, you say is blocked." He said. "How are we supposed to get access to it?"

"Shadow told me there is a decryption station inside one of The Pillar's bases, Rogue and him stole a map from their servers." Blaze said. "The base is in Windy Valley."

Tails chuckled. "Back with the old memories."

"You've been there?" Blaze asked.

"Yes." Tails replied. "I was just a kid back then, but it's hard to forget something that involves an ancient water monster."

Tanya did the last knot of the boots, she stood up and took little steps right where she was. "So strange." She headed to the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror, turning occasionally to study her looks, she grinned as it was the first time in her life she had put on normal clothes. "I could get accustomed to this." She said. Tanya exited the room and met with Blaze and with her husband, they both stood up and looked at her.

"Oh, hon." Tails got closer to her. "I have no words."

Blaze nodded. "I told you they would fit you."

"Well, my feet feel quite heavier than before." Tanya said. "I don't know why you people like these things."

Blaze chuckled. "Give it some time." She walked towards Spark's quarters then she opened the door and saw her son deeply asleep. "Spark." She said quietly then closed the door behind her and walked towards her son, she sat down on the corner of the bed next to him. "How are you feeling?"

Spark opened his eyes slowly and yawned while stretching. "Good until you came."

"Are you sure?" Blaze said then placed a hand on his orange furred forehead. "Headaches? Fever?"

Spark got his mom's hand off his forehead. "I'm okay, mom." He replied. "Don't you remember I just saved the day with this?" He flamed up his hands.

Blaze grinned and shook her head. "Where's that modesty I've taught to you?" She said. "Still, it's something you should be proud of."

Spark chuckled and got his hands back to normal. "Well, of course." He started to get up. "That's why you shouldn't be worried for me anymore." He got his feet out of the bed and took his boots then put them on.

"Oh, son." Blaze put a hand on his shoulder. "I'll always worry."

Spark got into his feet and opened the door to get out of the room. "Are we there yet?" He glanced back at Blaze.

"In two hours." Blaze responded.

Spark sighed. "Why couldn't they just put their HQ on a warm place like Emerald Coast or something?"

"Well, I guess Rouge likes cold weather." Blaze explained. "See the bright side, Holoska is known for having beautiful glaciers."

Spark shook his head. "Whatever." He finally left his quarters.

Tails stood up from the bench he had been sitting on and started to head towards his room. "I'm taking a nap, are you coming?" Tails looked at Tanya.

Tanya stood up and nodded. "Sure." They both headed to their quarters, Tanya following Tails, he waited for her and let her go inside first then he closed the door.

Tails walked towards the bed and laid down there, covering his arms with the cold side of the pillow, Tanya got on the bed and laid down on the other side. After about a minute, Tanya's ear twitched a little by the cold she felt.

Tails trembled slightly. "I guess we are not too far already."

Tanya gasped slightly. "I'm freezing." She dragged herself towards Tails to get closer to him, she hugged him and cuddled.

"That's better." Tails said then took his wife's hand and kissed it. "Sleep, hon." He yawned. "The mission is near."


	2. Heroes Reunion

Sonic Legacy: Downfall

Chapter 2: Heroes Reunion

The team's ship was flying between the mountains of the freeze cold country of Holoska, Blaze was piloting it on the control center, sitting on the pilot seat while Tails and Spark were standing in the same area, chatting.

"So, you have pyrokinesis too." Tails said.

"Yeah, at first it was scary as heck but then it became very awesome." Spark replied. "I even saved lives, you know." He swanked.

Tails nodded forcefully. "Really?"

"Son, what have I told you about arrogance?" Blaze scolded him while dodging some mountains with the help of the steering wheel.

Spark sighed. "It's not good and people don't like it."

"Good boy." Blaze said.

Tails chuckled. "It's okay, Blaze, I felt the same way after my first feat."

Spark looked at him. "You worked with Sonic The Hedgehog, right?"

Tails nodded. "Yes, we went into numerous adventures and battled the fiercest of enemies like Chaos, Metal Sonic and Robotnik of course." His gaze showed a bit of nostalgia. "He wasn't just a teammate, he was my closest friend, my brother."

"Fighting at his side must've been very cool." Spark said.

Tails let out an emotive chuckle. "It was, indeed"

The ship's comm received a signal. "Identify, now." A male voice said through the speakers.

Blaze started to lower down the ship, approaching a platform. "It's me, Blaze." She said.

The male voice delayed answering. "You may land."

Blaze rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Shadow." She landed the ship carefully over the big, metallic platform that was attached to the mountain.

"I'll go for Tanya." Tails walked away from them to head towards his room. He opened the door and saw Tanya sleeping peacefully over the bed, he walked towards her and moved her shoulder slightly to wake her up, she opened her eyes slowly and looked at him. "What?" She said with a somnolent tone. "Have we arrived?" She yawned and stretched then stood up.

Tails nodded. "I think you'll like the place." He said while taking her hand.

Tanya chuckled with disbelief. "If Holoska is always this cold, I doubt it."

"Ship, open." With that command, Blaze opened the ship's door and activated the ramp which just went down until it hit the snow covered platform. "Is everyone ready?" She stood up and turned around, seeing Tails arriving with Tanya.

"We're ready." Tails said.

Spark fired up his hands arrogantly. "I´ve been ready since we left."

Blaze sighed. "Just follow me." She walked down the ramp followed by them, the platform they reached was suspended over an abyss. "Ship, close." Blaze commanded and the ramp automatically returned to its former place and the door closed after so.

Tanya gasped at seeing the emptiness under her feet through the gaps of the gridded platform then she looked at her surroundings. "Wow."

Tails smirked at her. "I told you you would like it."

Tanya nodded, still glaring at the dark blue mountains around them. "So many…ice."

They approached a gray building which had a pair of antennas on the roof and several keep out signs on its facade. Blaze pressed a button on the intercom next to the red, metallic door before them. They waited for a moment then the door opened, they got inside the building one by one and then the door closed by itself.

"It was about time." Shadow said while walking towards them.

"It's good to see you too, Shad." Blaze said with sarcasm.

Tails walked by them as he glanced at the installations. "Rudimentary." He said as he noticed that the computing equipment they had there was a bit outdated.

"Thanks, sweetheart." Rogue said while flying from the second level to the first floor of the HQ, landing in front of Tails. "Your comments are well received."

"What's up, Rouge?" Tails said.

"Not much." Rogue replied. "Just another matter to solve."

"I wish it was just that." Shadow said then walked towards the spiral staircase that led to the second level, he looked at them in the middle of his path. "Come on! Don't just stand there!"

Rogue sighed. "Excuse him, he can be a bit authoritarian some times."

"I heard that." Shadow said from the second level.

Blaze and Spark took the stairs while Rogue just flew back there.

Tails hugged Tanya and used his tails to fly and reach the second floor.

Blaze and her son arrived with them. "You are years ahead of what we know, as I can tell." Blaze noticed the huge amount of pictures, maps and other documents pasted on the boards in front of the desktop Shadow was in front of.

"We've been investigating these guys for a while." Rogue said.

Shadow turned on the computer over the desktop and sat down on the wooden chair before it. "But we still don't know what exactly they're up to."

"That's two of us, then." Blaze said.

Rogue looked at Spark. "You must be happy with such a handsome son, Blaze." Her comment made Spark to blush.

"Yes." Blaze looked at her son. "He is a nice kid."

"Kid?" Spark protested.

Rogue just grinned and glared at Tanya. "Girlfriend, Tails?"

Tails chuckled and gave Tanya a kiss on the cheek. "Wife, actually."

Rogue nodded. "Congratulations to both."

"Okay, can we focus?" Shadow said while opening a window on the computer.

Rogue rolled her eyes. "Sure, Mr. Social."

They gathered behind him. "This is the objective." Shadow pointed at the heavy looking machine that the monitor was showing. "A decryption station that will help us uncover all the plans of these maniacs." Shadow turned to look at them. "You got the intel?"

Blaze nodded. "It's on the ship, hard drives, computers, we took everything we could from their base on Lumbre."

"Good." Shadow stood up. "After we acquire this device, we will be able to see all the files on those."

"Where are we going then, uhm, Shad?" Tanya asked with curiosity.

"Windy Valley." Shadow responded. "And it´s Shadow, by the way."


	3. Windy Valley

Sonic Legacy: Downfall

Chapter 2: Windy Valley

The early sun of the morning was covering the region of Windy Valley, a landscape full of grassed mountains and scattered trees, with occasional, vivid colored flowers on some of their rocky corners. Tails sighed while admiring the colorful scene through the ship's frontal glass. "This place never gets old."

"I imagine is better now that is badnik free." Blaze added, she was piloting, as always.

Tails nodded. "It certainly is." He turned and went for his weapon that he had left on one of the benches behind the control center, it was a metallic, robotic arm with wires and other electric components, it had a pair of velcro straps that he then used to secure it on his own arm.

Spark, who was sitting next to his mother on the copilot seat, looked at Tails' weapon. "Wow, did you make that?"

Tails grinned and nodded with pride while testing the stability of the weapon by moving his arm back and forth. "Yes, it was an improvised project I made to defeat a bad guy." He adjusted the weapon's straps to tighten them up.

"Awesome." Spark said. "Can you lend it to me after the mission?"

"Spark." Blaze looked at him briefly with scolding eyes.

"Uhm, I don't think that would be a good idea." Tails said. "It does has its trick to handle it properly."

Spark raised his shoulders, pretending disinterest. "Nevermind, I have this." He made a fireball to form from the palm of his hand and started to juggle with it.

Shadow broke into the conversation while arriving with them. "Have you spotted the base?"

Blaze sighed. "I'm right where the coordinates indicate but, I don't see any giant, secret building up here."

"A secret base?" Spark questioned then chuckled. "Maybe is inside of the mountains like in the movies." The three looked at him with surprise. "Sorry, I'll stop talking."

"No." Shadow said. "Maybe you're right, kid." He got closer to the glass to see if he could spot anything, he glared at the map that was showing on the screen of the console and compared it to what could be seen through the window. "It's right here, Blaze."

"How do you know?" Blaze inquired.

"These formations on the map match those on that mountain." Shadow pointed at the structural coincidences he had found. "Land here, we'll see how to get in when we approach the place."

Blaze nodded. "Right." She moved the steering wheel downwards, making the ship to go down and reach the flat surface of the mountain, landing it successfully.

Tanya and Rogue met with them. "Uhm, and the base?" Rogue inquired.

"We believe it's actually built inside the mountain." Shadow responded.

"Thanks to me." Spark pointed at himself. "Your welcome."

"Yeah, sure." Rogue replied carelessly.

"How are we going to get in, then?" Tanya asked.

"Let's find out." Blaze said and stood up from the seat. "Ship, open." The ramp and the door activated.

Spark hopped from his seat with excitement. "Yeah! Let the fun begin!" He got his hands surrounded by flames.

"This is no fun." Shadow told Spark. "You better take this mission seriously or you are out."

"Are you serious?" Spark replied, trying to hide a mocking chuckle.

Shadow sighed and just turned then went out of the ship.

"Uhm." Spark tilted his head towards Rogue to comment something. "Is he always that grumpy?"

"You have no idea." Rogue answered.

"Come on, team." Blaze said before exiting the vehicle, followed by her son and Rogue.

"After you." Tails let Tanya walk out first, she got out of the ship followed by him.

The team gathered next to the ship, Shadow was giving the instructions. "Alright everyone, listen up, the base must be right under our feet right now so there's gotta be a crack or something we can use to break in."

"So are we like, splitting or something?" Spark asked.

"Let me finish." Shadow warned. "Rogue and Tails will search flying around the mountain." He looked at Blaze. "You and your son look for any weak spots you could burn to let us in." Lastly, Shadow glared at Tanya. "You and I will try to find another way to get in."

Spark rolled up his eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure that's just splitting as I said."

"Any objections with the plan?" Shadow asked, getting no response whatsoever. "Okay, then."


	4. Exploring The Terrain

Sonic Legacy: Downfall

Chapter 4: Exploring The Terrain

Shadow and Tanya were walking over the top of the mountain while glancing constantly at the ground in search for any aperture they could use to sneak into the base. Tanya decided to talk with him to reduce the monotony of the situation. "So, Shad…" She got interrupted.

"Shadow." He said rather upset. "What is it?"

"Okay, Shadow." Tanya corrected. "For how long have you known Tails?"

Shadow crouched and started to pat the ground to see if he could find a way in. "Long enough." He replied.

Tanya also crouched to help him out. "How is long enough?" They both walked while crouching and touching the ground.

Shadow sighed. "I don't know we have just been part of the same fight, that's all."

"Oh." Tanya said. "So you are old friends?"

"If you say so." Shadow responded then snarled and stood up along with her.

"Don't you ever smile?" Tanya asked.

Shadow raised an eyebrow and looked at her. "What?"

"Like, you always have this…" Tanya put a finger on her forehead. "Frown."

Shadow shook his head. "Whatever." He began to walk away from her then turned. "Come on, keep looking." Shadow commanded.

Tanya looked at the right and found a pathway that went downwards. "Hey."

Shadow approached her. "What? Did you find something?"

Tanya nodded and pointed at the path. "That should lead somewhere."

Shadow headed to the path's beginning and started to walk downhill. "Move." He said before getting out of Tanya's sight.

Tanya sighed and rushed to catch up with him. "Your welcome." She said while walking behind him over the path made of little rocks and covered with flowers.

Shadow ignored her and they both arrived at the place the path led to, a lower level of the mountain. "And more nothing."

Tanya looked around and gasped when she found something behind the foliage next to her. "Shad." She started to tear off the plants that covered what she had seen behind them.

"It's…" Shadow knew it was useless to insist on something that trivial like his name.

Tanya tore off the last of the plants, uncovering a tall, metallic door. "I bet this is something!"

Shadow approached the door and looked for any handles or access panels with his gaze but found nothing. "Move, I'll open it."

"Uhm, sure." Tanya took a few steps to the left as Shadow backed away to take impulse.

Shadow focused on the door then jumped and hit it with a spin dash, destroying the it easily.

"Wow!" Tanya said. "How did you do that?"

Shadow entered the place beyond the now nonexistent door followed by her. He glanced at the ceiling and the walls of dirt and rock, then he glared at the ground. "Nothing."

Tanya kneeled down and started to dig the muddy ground using her hands. "Maybe there's something under this."

Shadow growled softly. "You'll just get all dirty, come on, let's look elsewhere."

Tanya kept digging. "I'm not afraid of some mud, why are you?"

"I didn't s…" Shadow just crossed his arms and waited for her to give up.

Tanya was starting to get tired, her digging became slower and she began to notice that there was indeed nothing there so she just stopped and got into her feet. "Maybe you are right."

"Maybe?" Shadow said, walking past her and exiting the place. "As I said." He looked at her. "Let's look elsewhere." He reaffirmed, Tanya looked at her hands which were covered in mud and cleaned them carelessly on her shirt then followed Shadow.

"You couldn't pick a better place to bring us to our deaths?" Spark told Blaze as they were both rappelling on the rocky side of the mountain.

Blaze held tightly from a rock at her left. "We must cover all the terrain." She looked at him. "I thought you were braver than this."

Spark looked down then immediately turned his gaze upwards. "I'm very brave! Mom!" He gasped while feeling the rock under his feet trembling. "But I'm cautious too." Spark yelled as the rock fell all of a sudden and he ended with his feet hanging, only holding with one hand.

"Sure." Blaze gave him a serious look. "Cautious."

Spark snarled. "It was not my f…" His hand slipped from the rock and Blaze reacted soon enough to hold his hand.

"Son! Be careful!" Blaze scolded him then swung him towards a larger rock next to her then she jumped onto it and stood next to her son. "Spark, you should've listened to me!" She crossed her arms. "I am a fool for letting you come."

"What do you mean?" Spark rested his back on the rocky wall and took a deep breath to forget the fright.

Blaze sighed. "You'd be better at the kingdom, not here, you aren't ready."

Spark frowned and approached her. "You think that?! For the record, I saved…"

"Yes, son, you saved Erif from those guys but this ain't the same!" Blaze put a hand on his shoulder. "Just hear me out, once we are finished with this task you'll stay at Holoska's HQ until everything is over."

"What? No!" Spark grunted and lowered his head, then sighed and looked at his mom. "Sorry, I just, I know I can do this, mom, I deserve one more chance."

Blaze looked at him with doubt then walked past him. "Prove it." She said and kept walking over the perilous track at the mountain's side, Spark followed her, watching his steps carefully.

"So, why didn't you call your longtime friend." Spark said as they walked. "He could be really helpful."

"Who, son?" Blaze asked.

Spark scratched his chin while trying to remember the name. "Uhm, that guy, the one who moves things."

Blaze stopped walking suddenly. "Oh, Silver." She resumed her steps. "I haven't heard of him for years now."

Spark raised an eyebrow. "Really? You think he is dead or something?"

"Please don't say that, son." Blaze warned. "He should be fine, maybe he is hiding somewhere, that´s all."

"Hiding?" Spark inquired.

Blaze sighed while reaching the end of the path. "A long time ago, a group of scientists started to kidnap people like us, people with powers, they had the weapons and gear to do so, too many of us disappeared, even friends of both Silver and I, I invited him to live in the castle but he thought that would put me in danger as he was already a known target, so he just left and I've heard nothing about him since then." She explained.

Spark remained silent then felt some plants touching his hand, he turned and saw a wall of those plants in front of him, he put his hand over the plants and moved it forward, discovering there was nothing behind them. "Mom."

Blaze looked at him. "What is it?"

Spark patted the plants while looking at her. "Help me burn these." He backed away slightly and flamed up his hands then began to shoot his flames towards them. Blaze got next to him and did the same, they were both managing to destroy them slowly but with success.

Meanwhile, Rogue and Tails were looking for gaps at the distance while flying in front of a lower part of the mountain. "Maybe the map is wrong, there's nothing here." Tails said.

"We worked hard to acquire that map, hon." Rogue replied. "Don't you tell me it was in vain."

"Is there some kind of gem in there we don't know about?" Tails inquired sarcastically.

Rogue looked at him upset. "Are you insinuating something?"

"I just say that old habits don't die." Tails responded.

Rogue flew down to face him. "Tails, I'm not here to steal a bunch of shiny rocks!"

"Okay." Tails tried to look away. "Forget it."

"No, Tails." Rogue forced him to look at her by moving his chin with her hand. "You don't trust me, do you?"

"Let it go already." Tails said. "I just think is very coincidental you brought all of us here where there is literally nothing of what you've told us about."

Rogue gasped indignantly while putting a hand on her waist. "Well, you'll feel so bad when you discover you're wrong, sweetheart." She looked up when hearing Blaze's voice´s echo.

"Over here! We found a way in!" Blaze exclaimed.

Rogue gave Tails a final, serious look. "You heard her." She flew away from him.

Tails remained flying on the same place for a moment, then sighed and shook his head. "You better be telling the truth." He flew upwards.


	5. Friction

Sonic Legacy: Downfall

Chapter 5: Friction

The team had entered a rocky tunnel that Blaze and her son discovered at the side of the mountain. "What if this is a trap? I don't want to fall off a cliff or something." Spark said while walking, they were all watching for their steps as the place was barely illuminated.

"This is the place." Shadow replied. "Be patient."

"I'm patient I just say…" Spark was interrupted.

"If you actually fall off a cliff I'll rescue you." Tails said. "Don't worry." He said dryly as he was upset by the discussion he had with Rouge.

"Yeah? How?" Spark remembered he watched him fly with his two tails moments before. "Oh, yeah, thanks."

The tunnel turned into a path with no walls or ceiling, still several meters high, which let them see the inside of the base. "What did I tell you?" Shadow said while glancing at the pipelines, turbines, machinery and all the infrastructure inside.

Rogue turned to look at Tails. "Now you believe me?"

Tails kept his gaze away from hers. "For now."

Shadow stopped walking all of a sudden. "Wait." His ear twitched as he gestured with his hand to make them stop behind him.

Blaze looked at her sides. "I hear it too."

Tanya gasped when spotting two red lights approaching them from the distance. "Over there!" She pointed at the black, five spiked spheres surrounded by lightning that revealed themselves to them, they floated and the red lights simulated their eyes.

Shadow jumped and hit one of them with a spin dash but got electrocuted by it and hurt by the sharp spikes, he landed on his back over the ground, groaning and rubbing his wounded arm. "That…" He gasped while standing up helped by Rogue. "…wasn't a good idea."

"Oh this one will be!" Spark flamed his arms and started to shoot large flames towards a pair of them, he did so for several seconds, the spheres seemed to get no damage, their silhouettes behind the fire didn't show any sign of damage, he stooped shooting and got his arms back to normal, the spheres were intact and both of them threw rays of lighting at him, he screamed while being briefly but painfully electrocuted then got over one knee while groaning by the pain. "Maybe not." He coughed and stood up.

"Spark!" Blaze approached him and put both hands on his shoulders. "Are you okay?"

Spark coughed. "No, but thanks for asking."

Tails clenched his fist and aimed his weapon at them. "If this worked with Lightmask…" He left the phrase incomplete.

Rogue's eyes widened when hearing that name. "Light-what?"

Tails pointed his fist at the spheres, he waited for them to align as they hovered randomly and when they got in a convenient position he shoot the red ray of his robotic, arm shaped weapon at them, at first they were resisting it but then they started to get surrounded by more of their own lightning creating a bright mix of red and blue around them before exploding in several tiny pieces that flew towards them, Blaze shoot her flames towards the pieces to destroy them before they could hurt her partners, turning them into mere ashes.

Tails opened his hand and the weapon went off, he looked at the rest who were looking at him with surprise and subtle admiration. "Shall we move?" He said and walked past them.

"Tails." Rogue caught up with him. "How do you know about the Lightmask project?"

Tails sighed. "We don't like to talk about that." He said referring to him and his wife, Tanya.

"Well I don't care." Rogue said. "That would be useful information."

Tails growled in silence. "Look, he appeared on the island I live and pretended to be me from the future, he told us to help him get the effektium but then we found out he was a monster." He lifted his arm, showing it to Rogue. "We defeated him with this."

Rogue nodded and glared at Shadow over her shoulder. "G.U.N.'s archives, Shadow, do you remember that?"

Shadow nodded. "I do, we wondered for years what this Lightmask was all about." He explained.

"He killed my son." Tanya said.

Tails took her hand. "He is gone, sweet."

"Remembered when he said there were more like him?" Tanya replied. "Do you think he was talking about those things you just destroyed?" He lifted her gaze and looked at him. "Or like, actual replicas of him?" She said with a tone of fear.

"He was a liar." Tails stroked her arm to reassure her. "He is gone."

"You are not sure about that." Blaze said.

"I said he is gone!" Tails looked at her with anger.

"Hey!" Spark walked towards him and pushed him. "What's wrong with you, man?!"

"Guys calm down we have to…" Rogue said but was interrupted by Tails.

"We have to what? Get your precious treasure?" Tails said and looked at the others. "We are finding nothing here! She must be using us!"

"Tails!" Shadow faced him. "We don't have time for your swellhead delusions! So shut that smart snout of yours already!"

Tails chuckled mockingly. "You can't tell me what to do, I'm not scared of a mindless weapon like y…"

"Stop!" Tanya exclaimed, making them to glance at her. "You wan't to fight? Fine! But do so against these people, these terrorists! Not against yourselves!" She sighed. "In one way or another, my son is dead because of them, and I bet the sons of many others, are we bringing them justice like this? Tearing ourselves apart?"

Tails backed away from Shadow then got next to his wife. "You're right." He looked at her then at the others. "We can't let them win."

Rogue crossed her arms. "Finally, something we agree on."

Shadow shook his head and kept walking. "Time's running." He said then the rest followed him, they had a few more meters of path to walk over until they reached a concrete bridge that then led them to the outside of an inner building, protected by a big, code blocked security door that got in their way. Shadow tried to break the door with a spin dash but it was so hard he got a bit stunned by the hit. He preferred to say nothing while rubbing his head and backing away from it.

Tails walked between them and approached the door, he glanced at the code panel and walked towards it, the device had a tiny Robotnik logo on a corner, Tails scratched his chin and pressed three keys at the same time for a couple of seconds then pressed another two keys individually, the door opened afterwards. "Brute force isn't always the solution, Shadow." He said and walked into the building.

Shadow sighed and followed him, same as the others. The place was more vivid from the inside than from the outside, the walls were white as well as the floor and the ceiling, bright lights illuminated it and there were several gray themed workstations with computers, consoles and all sorts of technology, it was divided in three areas separated by stairways connecting the industrial looking platforms. "Where's everybody?" Shadow inquired.

"Maybe they left." Spark said.

"Sure, that's why the place is so tidy and the computers are still on." Rogue said with sarcasm.

"Chill, it was just a comment." Spark argued.

From behind the workstations, two androids revealed themselves on each one of the platforms, being a total of six, they were black colored and had an armored look, their eyes were red just as the strange spheres they had fought against a while ago, their humanoid shape was mixed with sharp ends and insect like patterns on their bodies, transparent spheres were attached to their chests, blue lightning hovered on the spheres´ inside. The androids had built in jetpacks so they activated them and began to hover above the platforms, looking at the team with hostile intentions.

Each member of the team adopted a fighting position while looking at the hovering machines. "Who'd like to go first?" Tails asked jokingly.


	6. Equitable Combat

Sonic Legacy: Downfall

Chapter 6: Equitable Combat

Two androids landed in front of Shadow and began to brawl with him, one of them punched his face and the other kicked his side, Shadow gasped and kneeled one on the torso, making it to back away, the other got behind him and tried to threw a punch but Shadow blocked it with his fist, he turned and grasped its arm then ripped it off and started to smash the android's head with it.

On the meantime, Blaze and Spark were trying to burn other two androids that were approaching them menacingly, the fire that was coming out of the arms of both didn't seem to affect them. Spark changed his attack from plain fire shooting to fire balls which he made and shot repeatedly at the android's heads, also without results.

"It's useless." Blaze said while backing away and looking at her son. "We have to fight them hand-to-hand."

"Hand-to-hand?" Spark sighed. "Sure, let's do it the boring way." He stopped flaming his hands along with his mother and they both approached the androids. "You wasn't expecting th…" The android grasped Spark's arm and started to fly inside the building.

"Spark!" Blaze looked for Rogue by gazing at her sides, she found her helping Shadow with the two androids he was dealing with. "Rogue, a little help?" She said pointing upwards.

Rogue gasped as an android kicked her belly. "I'm a little busy here!" She stopped the android's fists with her own.

"No thanks I'm…" Spark's voice got lost by the erratic and random flying of the android. "…fine!" He said when passing above his mother.

Tanya kicked an android then hit its chest with her elbow, she glanced upwards and saw Spark flying with the android. "Hon." She looked at Tails who was electrocuting other android with his weapon. "I think he needs your help!" She pointed at Spark who changed of spot constantly.

"Almost…" Tails kept firing his ray at the android and it exploded all of a sudden, he protected himself from the flying scraps with his arm. "Done." He looked up and saw Spark having difficulties to deal with the flying android. He flew towards them with his tails and grabbed the android from behind then put his hand on its head and began to shoot his ray directly at it.

"Could you move that more to the right?" Spark said while still being held by the android. "I don't want a burn."

Tails gasped. "I'm saving your skull if you didn…" The android exploded faster than Tails expected so he and Spark fell to the metallic ground violently. Tails stood up effortfully and walked towards Spark who was laying a pair of meters in front of him. "Your welcome." He extended his hand at him.

Spark gasped by the pain and took Tails' hand, standing up with his help. "Thanks, man."

Tanya kicked the android she was battling on the face three times in a row then jumped and put her hand on the sphere on its chest, she brought him to the ground along with her and clenched her fist so hard she destroyed the sphere, making it to explode into microscopic pieces of glass. She got into her feet and rubbed her hands. "Good fight, metal head."

Rogue and Shadow were fighting back to back against the androids, Shadow kicked the leg of one then pushed him onto the floor, he jumped and hit it with a powerful spin dash, destroying it instantly. Rogue evaded the android's hits gracefully, she hit its head with her own and stunned it, then she kicked its torso and threw a fatal, flying kick at its head, making it to flew out of its body, deactivating the android instantly. Shadow turned and walked towards her. "Are you okay?" He asked.

Rogue raised an eyebrow as it was uncommon from him to show a single gesture of worry. "Uhm, Sorry?"

"Oh." Shadow scratched his nape while looking away. "Nothing, I just wanted to make sure th…"

Rogue chuckled. "I'm fine, Shadow, thanks."

Blaze grabbed the android's leg on purpose, it began to fly all over the place and she started to lean onto a wall to lead it there, before the android could smash the wall she let go off its leg and landed on the ground, the android exploded above her.

"Mom!" Spark hurried towards her amazed. "That was so cool!"

Blaze chuckled. "I have my moments."

They gathered over the third platform in front of the decryption station which was a huge, cube shaped machine with several buttons and keyboards attached to it as well as a little screen. Shadow noticed it was attached to the platform. "Okay, I'll break the metal below it." He looked at Tails. "Then you and Rogue will take it from there."

"Then what? It looks…heavy." Tails opined.

"Well, she can do it alone if you don't want to get tired." Shadow said sarcastically.

Tails growled. "It's not that." He used his tails to hover and fly towards the machine. "I'm guessing you want us to carry it all the way to the ship."

"You guess right." Shadow replied. "Any trouble with that?" He crossed his arms.

Tails sighed. "What if it has a timer or something like that?"

"You'll get by." Shadow spin dashed the ground around its corners, detaching the machine from the platform. "See? Now t…" His eyes widened when the screen on the machine started to display a three minute countdown. "That's a …"

"A timer! Genius!" Tails said with a frown.


	7. Countdown

Sonic Legacy: Downfall

Chapter 7: Countdown

"Oh now what?!" Spark exclaimed, scared at seeing the machine's timer. "Leave that thing, I don't want to die!"

"That's not happening, kid." Shadow replied. "Tails, can you disable it?"

Tails crouched next to the machine and put both hands on the lid at its side then pulled it away and left it on the floor. He studied the inner components for a moment then gasped by discovering the nature of the timer. "Guys, I have good news and bad news."

"What's the good?" Tanya inquired.

"You see, the machine hasn't any detonation system, so is not a bomb." Tails explained.

"And the bad news?" Blaze asked.

"The timer is from the base's self destruction system." Tails answered.

"Then leave it." Spark sighed. "We won't make it in time, I'll just go ahead…" Before he could take a single step, he was stopped by his mother.

"You stay." Blaze said, holding him with a hand on his shoulder.

Shadow thought for a moment. "Tails, you, Tanya and Rouge take this thing out of the building." He looked at Blaze and her son. "You two will help me do the rest."

"But, how…" Spark was interrupted.

"Stay calm, son." Blaze said. "Just do as I do."

Shadow nodded. "Come on." He started to walk towards the building's exit, followed by Blaze and Spark.

Tails, Tanya and Rogue crouched before the machine's sides, they grabbed its bottom and started to lift it with notorious effort and began to walk towards the distant door.

Meanwhile, Shadow, Blaze and Spark were exiting the building and arrived at the rocky path the team had taken before. "Alright." Shadow rushed quickly towards the middle of the path, getting there after a black and red blur. "When they bring the machine, tell them to throw it there, understand?" Shadow said, pointing at the abyss that surrounded the path, talking louder so they could hear him.

"We'll be ready." Blaze said.

Spark pulled the sleeve of her mom's purple coat to get her attention. "Mom, ready for what? What we will do? Throw it? Like, there?"

Blaze chuckled. "Patience son, I just hope you master the fireballs."

Spark let out an arrogant chuckle. "Master? I totally dominate them!" He made two fireballs to grow from the palm of his hands.

On the meantime, Tails' team was still carrying the machine, having moved barely a platform away from where they started. Tails gasped and let go the machine, dropping it. "Hey! Be careful!" Rogue argued, backing away from the machine just in time. "You could've destroyed our hands!"

"Are you okay, hon?" Tanya asked.

"Maybe I have a faster way to do this." Tails replied and used his tails to fly and get over the machine then he grabbed it and lifted it. "Rouge…" He gasped. "Could you get over there?" He gestured with his face, pointing towards the exit.

Rogue began to fly then got in front of the door, flying over it. "When you are ready, sweetheart."

Tanya raised an eyebrow then looked at her husband. "Sweetheart?" She asked him, lowering the tone of her voice.

Tails looked at her. "She speaks that way, don't worry." He mumbled.

"Oh." Tanya nodded. "I see."

Tails looked back at Rouge and lifted the machine higher by an impulse of his tails then swung it back and forth with both arms, throwing it at her, she reacted fast and grabbed the machine on the air, she gasped and carried it outside of the building. Tails landed and began to sigh repeatedly, with both hands on his knees, looking at the floor, exhausted. Tanya approached him. "Hon?" She asked.

Tails lifted his hand at her. "I'm fine, just give me a second."

Rogue arrived with the machine. "It's…" She gasped. "All yours."

Spark's eyes widened. "One minute!" He exclaimed with terror at seeing the screen.

"Blaze, now!" Shadow commanded.

"Rogue, throw it there." Blaze pointed at the abyss.

Rogue gasped then looked down at the emptiness next to the rocky path. "What?!"

"Trust me." Blaze said, Rogue hesitated for a moment but finally chose to listen and threw the machine.

Blaze shot a fireball towards the falling machine. "Spark! Hit it!"

Spark reacted quickly and shot at the fireball his mother had thrown, before it could collide with the machine, Spark's projectile hit his mother's, making an explosion that managed to direct the machine upwards with its expansive wave.

"My turn." Shadow said as the machine was still above him, before it could start falling again he spin dashed towards it, only that this time with his hands extended, he put them over the machine and pushed it towards the cave's entrance, getting it outside along with him. He turned and poked his head into the cave. "Get out of there, now!" He yelled.

When they all got out of the base in a hurry, Tails and Rogue carried the machine while flying so they could transport it to the ship. They both managed to get next to the ship while still carrying the decryption station and Blaze and the rest caught up with them. "Ship, open!" The door opened at her command and Tails and Rogue didn't hesitate to get inside the ship and drop the machine on the floor as soon as they did so. The rest entered the ship then Blaze rushed towards the control center, lifting the ship without even sitting down first and getting it far from the mountain which exploded violently moments after they left.


	8. Underground Procedures

Sonic Legacy: Downfall

Chapter 8: Underground Procedures

Shadow, Tails and Blaze were working on the machine, Blaze had transferred all of the data she had gathered from The Pillar on a pen-drive which she connected to the decryption station, they didn't even bother to move the machine to another room as they were eager to know the bottom of everything. The screen on the machine showed a slowly growing loading bar, so they just sat down on the benches by the machine, waiting for the info to be revealed. Tails was thoughtful, he glanced at Shadow several times, feeling guilty for what he had told him back on the cave on Windy Valley. "Shadow." He said hesitantly and Shadow just glared at him with his arms crossed. Tails stood quiet for a moment, trying to forget his pride. "Back on the base, I said things, unfair things." He lowered his head, ashamed of what had happened. "I'm sorry for calling you a mindless weapon, you are far away from being that."

Shadow stood serious but nodded at Tails´ apology. "Thanks." He said then remembered he had also attacked Tails on that same discussion. "I'm sorry too, I was just defending Rogue."

Tails sighed. "I must talk to her." He stood up and headed to Rogue's room which was the one on the bottom of the ship's corridor, he knocked first.

"Come in." Rogue said.

Tails opened the door, Rogue was sitting on the edge of the bed, reading some notes about their investigation on The Pillar on an old notebook she was holding, she lifted her gaze and found out Tails had entered. "Oh, it's you."

Tails sighed and walked towards her. "May I?" He pointed at the edge of the bed, Rogue just nodded so Tails sat down next to her. "Look, Rogue, I'll be honest with you."

"I'm all ears." Rogue replied.

"Alright." Tails lowered his head and started to rub his hands by the shame he felt. "At first I truly believed you would betray us at one point." He looked at her. "Tanya and I paid a high price the last time we weren't cautious with people who said they just wanted to help for a cause."

"What happened?" Rogue asked.

Tails gathered valor first to narrate their tragedy. "Lightmask pretended to be me and said he needed help to extract the effektium, we both believed him." A tear escaped from the corner of his eye. "And then…" He sobbed and looked away. "He killed her son, Akif." Tails´ voice was broken. "And all because we trusted." He looked at Rogue. "But now I know I was wrong about you, and that I can trust you." Tails said. "Shadow trusts you more than anyone, so, why wouldn't I?"

Rogue took a moment to accept his apology. "Don't worry, sweet." She put a hand on his shoulder. "The past is the past."

Tails grinned. "Okay." He stood up from the bed's edge and walked towards the door.

"Tails." Rogue said, preventing him to leave the room.

Tails turned. "Yes?"

Rogue smiled. "You are a good man, don't forget that."

Tails grinned at the compliment. "Thanks." He exited the room and closed the door. He went back to where the machine and his other partners were, Tanya and Spark had joined them. "Any progress?"

"Almost there…" Blaze said while glancing at the loading bar which was getting close to the end. She gasped slightly when the window with files was displayed on the screen. "It worked."

Tails walked to get behind her and take a look. "So many files." He said as Blaze was scrolling down the window, revealing the amusing quantity of files with the help of a marble that worked like a mouse.

Shadow had gotten next to them too. "Start with that." He pointed at the last of the files, the one that had the most recent date.

Blaze nodded and opened the file, it was a text document. "Message number one hundred ninety nine." She began to read the message out loud. "The time has come, honorable members of this majestic society, you've proven courage and loyalty with your numbers, which have become enough to begin this crusade." Blaze looked at the image under the text. "Strange, those are plans for a ship." She said.

"A big one." Tails added.

Blaze continued reading the document. "This is what I need, you must build this machine and send it to the Hanging Gardens."

"Hanging Gardens?" Spark inquired. "I thought that was a myth."

"It is, son." Blaze said, then she kept reading. "But be warned, send it without any crew, The Hanging Gardens is a dangerous place, and you don't know what resides there, use the effektium ray to destroy the force field, and the truth shall be unleashed." She stopped reading and looked at her comrades with a face of confusion. "What could this possibly mean?"

Tails scratched his chin. "Let me see those files." He walked towards the decryption station, Blaze moved a little bit to let him get a closer look, he went back to the file folder and started to look for a specific file name. "Maybe I can find a map or something."

"But it's ridiculous." Spark said. "That place doesn't exist!"

"Here it is." Tails found a file called 'Hanging Gardens', he opened it and it was a plain text document with some coordinates. He nodded at his find. "We got a location."

"Judging by the message's date, they must be on their way already." Shadow said.

"But we'll stop them." Tails said. "Whatever they are up to, they won´t make it."

"The Hanging Gardens." Blaze said. "Could it be just a code name?"

"Don't forget about the force field." Tanya added.

Tails sighed then shook his head. "Let's find out."


	9. Frights And Discoveries

Sonic Legacy: Downfall

Chapter 9: Frights And Discoveries

All the team could see was fog and the endless sea through the cockpit´s window, Blaze was piloting while her son was at her side, sitting on the copilot seat. "Don´t you think this could be a trap?" Spark said, looking at his mom first then looking back at the rest of them, who were standing behind him and Blaze.

"Maybe." Shadow replied, with his gaze at the front. "But we´ll be ready."

Blaze narrowed her eyes. "It´s been two hours already, I can´t see any sign of land anywhere." She said. "And the night is not helping that much either."

"Keep going." Tails said. "This is the last chance we have against them."

"Yes bu..." Blaze gasped when the radar on the console started to show three objects following them. "They´ve found us!"

"I told you!" Spark exclaimed. "Now we are all gonna die!"

"Don´t panic, kid." Tails said. "I´ll deal with them." He hadn´t take off his weapon so he walked away heading to the staircase that led to the emergency exit which was on the ceiling.

"Wait, Tails." Tanya said worriedly. "Is not a good idea."

"They could have missiles or something worse, Tanya." Tails said, having already climbed a pair of stairs. "I´ll be back, hon, don´t worry." He kept going upstairs then reached the hatch and opened it with the lever at its side then got outside, he closed the hatch and accommodated his feet to find balance then began to walk cautiously over the roof, the fog didn´t let him see clearly, he reacted fast enough to jump and hover with his tails when a drone appeared in front of him, he landed his feet and turned to face the drone, which was black and had red leds at the propellers´zones. Tails aimed at it with his soft-weaponized arm but was suddenly hit by other drone on his back, he gasped and got into his knees then turned and saw a third drone joining the other, he stood up and flew over them with his tails, hiding behind the fog, the drones began to shoot at will, the muzzle flashes of their machine guns helped him know exactly where they were, he shot at one of them, managing to electrocute it with his red ray, the drone trembled then exploded silently and fell down, hitting the ship´s roof then falling onto the sea.

Tanya gasped at hearing the noise, she was looking at the ceiling anxiously, worried about her husband, Rogue looked at her and approached her then put a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "Hey." Rogue said. "He´ll be fine." Tanya just looked at her and nodded rather forcefully.

Tails was evading the drones´ continuous shots, jumping and running over the roof, one managed to hit him on his side, he screamed by the pain and got over one knee while putting a hand on the wound then looked at his hand, his palm was covered with blood so he knew he had to hurry. He stood up and gasped as the pain began to increase, he spotted a drone flying right over him and jumped, taking more impulse with his tails and held from the back of the drone´s weapon which it started to fire randomly, he used his own weight to direct the drone, he had seen a trace of the other one so he lead the drone towards where he knew the other drone was and made them both to collide onto each other, exploding above him as he had let go the drone in time. He walked towards the hatch and reopened it then got inside the ship and closed the hatch. He went down the stairs with a jump and groaned as his wound had caused him pain again.

"Love." Tanya said, rushing towards him. "Are you..." She gasped at seeing his bleeding wound.

"I told you..." Tails gasped then sat down on the floor, covering his injury. "I would be back."

"Oh, hon." Tanya crouched in front of him. "Let me check." She moved his hand and gasped again at discovering the wound was worse that she thought. "Blaze! We need help here!"

"Son, take it from here." Blaze said and stood up then headed towards them.

"Cool!" Spark said and before he could even stand up and take the steering wheel, Shadow sat down on the pilot seat and began to pilot the ship.

"Not today, kid." Shadow said. "I don´t want you to screw this up."

"Hey! That´s not entirely possible!" Spark argued, then he crossed his arms and frowned as he knew Shadow wasn´t going to let him pilot.

"Is it severe?" Tanya asked worriedly as Blaze checked the wound.

Blaze shook his head. "He´ll be fine, Tanya." She gave her a reassuring look. "I´ll get the bandages." She stood up and walked towards the storage box that was between the rooms, she opened it and picked a package with gauzes and a bottle of alcohol. She went back with them and kneeled down then put some alcohol on her hand and put it over the wound.

Tails gasped. "You could´ve warned me first."

Blaze just chuckled and took the gauzes then cut a long piece of them, she then put the gauze on the wound and wrapped it around his torso, securing it. She leaned back and got into her feet. "He´s good to go, it was just a superficial matter."

Tanya sighed with relief. "Thank you, Blaze."

Blaze chuckled. "Don´t thank me, he saved our skulls." She pointed at Tails.

"It´s nothing." Tails stood up with the help of his wife, Blaze just turned and returned to the cockpit.

Tanya looked at her husband. "I was very worried, sweetheart." She caressed his face and gave him a kiss. "I feared you wouldn´t make it."

Tails took her hand. "And leave you alone?" He kissed her back and hugged her. "That ain´t happening, pretty."

"Thanks, Shadow." Blaze said as Shadow stood up from the seat to let her take control again.

"Mom, he usurped my duty!" Spark argued, pointing at Shadow.

"Is not a big deal son." Blaze said. "You´ll have your moment."

"But..." Spark growled and looked at Shadow, upset.

"You´ll have your moment." Shadow told him jokingly.

"Hey!" Blaze said. "I see something."

Rogue leaned forward. "I see it too!"

Tails and Tanya joined them, their eyes widened when looking at the landscape they had encountered with. "It´s real."

Spark shook his head slightly, amused by the place that was ahead of them. "I can´t believe it." They were glancing at the old looking buildings that were covered with plants and jungle trees, the architecture of the buildings was ancient and made of white stone,

"Well, it was not a code name after all." Shadow added.

"This means we are j..." Blaze gasped when the ship collided suddenly against an invisible barrier which went blue momentaneously by the hit then got invisible again. She moved the ship a little bit backwards.

"That´s the force field there." Tails said. "How will we get through it?"

Blaze looked up while leaning forward and spotted a giant ship that looked exactly like the one on the plans they had discovered, it revealed itself slowly as it had been using a sort of cloaking system. "I think those files were more literal than we thought."


	10. Power

Sonic Legacy: Downfall

Chapter 10: Power

"Should we go and fight that thing?" Tanya inquired.

Tails shook his head, with his amused eyes locked at the gigantic ship that faced the dome. "I hate to be pessimistic, but that th…" He gasped along with the others as the ship started to shoot a bright and powerful blue ray at the dome.

Blaze backed the ship away from the dome with a quick maneuver. "We are late." She looked at her teammates. "It's over."

"What could they want from that place?" Shadow inquired while noticing that the dome started to shine.

"A weapon, maybe." Spark opined.

"Whatever it is, w…" The dome exploded and generated an odd, purple wave that hit the ship rather aggressively, making the crew to fall to the floor.

Tanya groaned. "What was that?" She got into her feet along with the rest.

Blaze reached for the console and sat down on her seat again. "They have destroyed the force field." She accelerated towards the Hanging Gardens which were now unprotected.

"What are you doing?!" Tails exclaimed. "We don't know what could possibly be there!"

"And that's exactly why we must go, Tails." Blaze replied with a calmer tone than him. "This could be a global scale threat." They entered the Gardens, getting through a dense jungle, they were glancing at the antique architecture and the mysterious edifices that revealed themselves behind the vegetation.

"Wow." Spark expressed. "This place is beautiful!"

"It reminds me of the island, certainly." Tanya added.

"So, it is no legend after all." Rogue said.

"I've seen better." Shadow crossed his arms, hiding his amusement.

"Just don't get too comfortable, guys, we must be cau…" Blaze was interrupted by the sudden amount of dark pink light that showed in front them after a noisy thunder like sound.

"Just when things were getting good." Spark said.

Blaze looked up and saw a figure flying towards the giant ship while leaving a trace of dark pink light behind it. "I'm following that thing, hold on!" She pressed some buttons of the console and accelerated upwards, maintaining the ship towards that direction with the help of the steering wheel.

Tails was grasping the wall with strength. "Wait! Slow down, slow down!" Blaze ignored him and kept going after the pink figure, she then stopped right in front of the ship.

"Mom, this time you went too far." Spark looked at her with dizzy eyes.

"Tails, your turn." Blaze looked at him. "Use your weapon like with the drones."

"Like, now?" Tails rubbed his arm.

Blaze sighed. "It could be our only chance t…" She stopped talking as the flying, pink figure started to shoot a purple light at the ship which got destroyed almost instantly after so, the sky got covered with falling debris and metal scraps surrounded by the yellow light of the explosion.

"What the...!" Shadow exclaimed, backing away slightly.

"And you wanted me to go against that?!" Tails argued.

Blaze seemed to had gotten nervous. "I…we should…" The pink figure showed itself from behind the darkness of the smoke.

"It's a person?" Spark narrowed his eyes then Blaze pressed a green button over the console and put the systems at full then flew away from the threat and headed to a ruin in the middle of the jungle. "Wait! We should get out of here, is the other way, mom!" Spark said while pointing at the back.

"I won't leave without answers." Blaze replied and landed the ship on the ground which was made of gray rock. She remained silent before standing up and heading to the door. "Ship open." The doors opened in front of her.

"You have brought us to our demise!" Shadow exclaimed. "You saw what that thing did to the ship!"

Blaze faced him. "If that wanted us dead it would have done that much earlier, Shadow." She walked down the ramp.

Tails look at Tanya. "Shall we really go?"

Tanya sighed. "Maybe she is right, hon." She followed Blaze along with the rest, the last one to exit the ship was Tails.

The six were outside of the ship, just waiting. "I can assure you, Blaze, that this was a bad idea." Shadow said.

"It destroyed the Pillar's ship, it could be actually our ally." Blaze argued.

"Or it could be a trap." Rogue opined.

"Look!" Spark exclaimed frightened as he pointed at the glowing pink figure that was approaching them quickly.

"There's no turning back, team." Blaze said.

The figure landed in front of them, having left a trace of pink light, the light that surrounded the figure vanished and revealed who it was, a female, fuschia pink furred hedgehog with pink hair whose attire consisted in a red bodysuit and a purple cape.

Blaze took a step forward and looked at her. "We come at peace, we don't want to harm you."

"I hope she thinks the same w…" Shadow hit Spark's side with his elbow, interrupting him.

Blaze kept speaking. "Who are you?"

The hedgehog took a confident step towards them. "I'm Sonia." She responded. "Sonia the hedgehog."


	11. War

Sonic Legacy: Downfall

Chapter 11: War

Tails had heard the hedgehog's name before, but he decided to let her speak. "Why did you destroy that ship?"

Sonia chuckled. "Let me tell you my story, to clarify these doubts of yours." She responded. "When I was only a child, my mother abandoned me here, afraid of the power I held inside. A beautiful place to live, indeed, but a cell nonetheless, full of green and knowledge, she wasn't smart enough to keep me out of the majestic libraries that this place has, I spent years studying and creating, crafting my own way out of here. One day, I found the solution, the hearts of the people always move towards ambition and power, so I built that antenna." Sonia pointed at the irregular, blue building that could be seen coming out from the dense jungle. "I contacted people, powerful people and convinced them to adopt a journey to unlimited domain, how foolish they were." Sonia started to walk towards her sides constantly. "I promised them greatness, they just needed to do one single thing."

"To gather the effektium." Shadow said.

"That's correct." Sonia replied. "But not to sell, no, and not to transform it or keep it in cages, I needed the power of the effektium to break the dome that my mom used to cover this place so I couldn't get out."

"Why did you kill those people, all of them?" Tails questioned.

Sonia shook her head. "A small price to pay for freedom, and one I surely regret." She said. "But what's done, is done."

Tanya frowned and tried to run towards her with violent intentions. "What's done i…" She yelled at her. "What about my son! That's just done for you! Miserable…" Tails and Shadow stopped her from taking another step.

Sonia didn't even reacted at Tanya's anger. "I mourned for those unknown losses, believe me." She said. "But I didn't have the chance to choose, powerful people are hard to reach these times."

"You let them kill." Spark intervened. "That makes you a murderer."

"I didn't tell them to do so, not a single time." Sonia explained. "I just…encouraged them to do what was necessary."

"It's the same thing." Rogue said. "And what about the people inside the ship you just destroyed."

"A drone, nothing more." Sonia put a straight face and looked at them with unprecedented seriousness. "I suffered, I cried and hated myself for a long time for every death." Sonia took few steps towards them. "Then, I found out it was useless, my hate could only exist for one person, Queen Aleena, she is responsible for this death, for this suffering." Sonia clenched her fists. "She never came back, with her regrets, with all the mistakes she made, I guess she fears me more than she did when I was a child"

"Yeah, yeah so sad." Rogue said. "You are still facing justice."

Sonia lowered her head and let out a chuckle of mockery. "Justice? Do you think that exists in this world? In this life?" She looked at them. "My own mother abandoned me! Did she do the same with my brother?! We both were powerful! Yet she only did this to me!"

"Your brother wouldn't have wanted this, Sonia!" Tails exclaimed.

"What could you possibly know about him?!" Sonia started to get more and more uneasy.

"Faster than sound, blue spines." Tails took a step at the front. "Compassion and heart, tell me is not him."

Sonia gasped and smirked subtly. "You know my brother?" She let out a hopeful chuckle. "Did he come here?" She asked.

"He is dead." Shadow said coldly.

Sonia gasped again, more with sadness than with astonishment. "So…sorry?"

"G.U.N. killed him, Sonia." Tails responded. "In search for the effektium."

Sonia shook her head with negation. "That cannot be true." She started to mourn. "That is not true!"

"He was my best friend, Sonia, he left a long time ago." Tails said. "He loved you, that's for sure." He received looks of intrigue from his teammates. "Sonic missed you and cried for you many times."

Sonia knelt down, devastated, covering her face with both hands. "Brother…" She mumbled with a broken voice.

Shadow approached Tails. "Did you know about her?" He murmured.

Tails nodded, still looking at Sonic's mourning sister. "She was not a common topic, but one day, he told me everything, her mother abandoning her and therefore him feeling completely alone, not knowing where his sister was."

Sonia cried deeply, expressing rage and guilt. "They will pay, brother." She said and got into her feet, starting to float while glowing pink. "They will pay for your death!" Her voice echoed strongly.

"What is she doing?" Spark asked Blaze, confused, being ignored by his mother.

"It is on you, Sonia!" Tails exclaimed. "Don't do something you'll regret later!"

"Vengeance will come! For him, they'll suffer!" Sonia sentenced, she moved her arms downwards, her glow got brighter and followed by a pink, ongoing beam, she left the place rapidly.

"What just happened?!" Spark expressed.

"She'll go after G.U.N." Shadow responded. "They won't stand a chance."

"Not if we get there first." Blaze said. "To the ship, now!"

The team gathered rapidly inside the ship, Blaze was maneuvering with the steering wheel like always and the rest were behind her. "I'm tracking her movement and judging by the direction she is going, she'll arrive at Station Square in no more than an hour."

"Can this thing go that fast?" Rogue asked.

"You tell me." Blaze pulled a lever that was hidden under the console and the landscape on the window got instantly blurry, the fastness of the trip caught them off guard and they all fell down, with a tacit promise of not saying a word about the incident.

The moon could barely be seen through the polluted clouds over Station Square, just as the pink beam behind Sonia, the intermittent pink light was heading to one of G.U.N.'s principal headquarters, which were located over a concrete covered mountain on the city's margins, a gray and monotone building, with watching towers and perpetual vigilant lights. Sonia remembered the locations and transmissions she had gotten in the past, so she knew exactly where to go, even the new freedom she had obtained wasn't going to distract her from her goal, avenge her brother, destroying those she tricked for years.

With a quick rush, she headed rapidly to the building, stopping right in front of its facade, floating before it. A pair of guards who were covering the roof backed away a bit by her sudden presence.

"Identify yourself or we shoot!" One of the masked guards exclaimed, aiming his weapon at her.

The team's ship arrived braking right behind her. "Just in time!" Spark said.

"You treacherous scum!" Sonia exclaimed with tears of rage on her eyes. "For my brother's demise, you shall p…" A huge, cylinder shaped light surrounded her all of a sudden, going from the tall sky to the ground, making a loud, continuous noise, the fire like phenomenon got her and the team completely trapped. As a blink, they disappeared along with the majestic light, leaving the two guards confused and astonished.

Sonia was on her knees, coughing and gasping by the feelings of tiredness and awe. She got into her feet with effort and turned to study her surroundings, she saw the team's ship parked over the granite floor, each member of the team exited the ship one by one with the same looks of confusion that Sonia had. "What did you do?!" Sonia walked towards them rapidly. "Get me out of this place! Now!"

Shadow growled at her while rubbing his head. "We don't know what the heck happened!"

"You won't deceive me with your filthy lies!" Sonia's voice echoed inside the big, white room they were in, illuminated with hidden sources of light, lines of small windows let them see the night of the outside of an unknown world.

"The black hedgehog is right." A female voice said from the distance, they briefly looked around and saw a purple furred, female hedgehog who wore a long, white dress with golden details, her crown was made of gold, she went down the small stairs that connected to the throne that seemed to have just appeared, just like her. Her steps were calm but authoritarian, she didn't get her sight off Sonia, who had a lump in her throat and falling tears on her face, she knelt down forcefully while clenching her fists, the team was just watching the scene. The woman approached Sonia and knelt down, she caressed her face and gently made her to raise her gaze by moving her chin with a hand. "My dear daughter." She hugged her, Sonia didn't answer the gesture.

Sonia sobbed. "Mother." There was guilt on her voice. "Look what you turned me into."

Queen Aleena delayed quite a bit to provide an answer. "Oh, daughter of mine." She broke the hug slowly, looking into her daughter's eyes immediately after so. "You've become a beautiful woman."

Sonia cried and rested her head on her mother's shoulder. "And you chose to live without me, not watching me grow, ditching the games, the laughs and the tales, abandoning me."

Aleena hugged her once gain. "What I did was monstrous, daughter." She began to stroke her hair. "But there was no alternative."

"No, mother." Sonia said. "There was, but your fear turned me into your nightmares."

Aleena sobbed. "What were you going to do to those poor men?"

The sadness Sonia was holding on her breath almost left her unable to speak properly. "I…" A tear fell off her eye. "I was…" She gasped and closed her eyes with great shame. "I wanted to kill them, mom…" She hugged her mother coldly. "I wanted them dead."

Aleena's eyes were teary. "For your brother." She sobbed. "For my son."

"They were fortunate." Sonia said. "Not like the others, the ones who perished by my connections, my false allies." She looked at her. "I hated you, every day, every night, I wished your death, a…" She kept crying with deep sorrow and guilt. "A painful, slow and merciless death." She lowered her head, ashamed, feeling lost and forgotten.

Aleena leaned and kissed her forehead, stroking her cheeks. "I know you, daughter." She said. "And know, you know yourself."

Sonia kept her gaze down. "Then your fears weren't liars." She looked at Aleena. "Now the danger is out."

Aleena let out a sigh of compassion. "Your tears show me…" She cleaned a tear off her daughter's face. "The danger is gone."

Sonia cried out loud and hugged her mother strongly, feeling a truthful warmth of renewal. "I missed you so much!"

Aleena embraced her with that love that never ran out, the one only a mother can have. "I'm sorry, my little princess, I'm so sorry for all the pain I forced you to feel!"

"Just tell me one thing, mother." Sonia said. "Had you ever planned to go and take me out of there?"

Aleena shook her head. "I'm sorry, sweetheart, I won't lie to you, as I thought the world would've been better without you."

Sonia sobbed and nodded subtly, with resignation. "I guess you were right, I hurt people, I destroyed families, the poor son of that woman, the cheetah among this people you brought here, he died because of me."

Aleena caressed her face reassuringly. "As my heart is not darkened enough to lock you down again, I will do what's possible to give peace to your wounded self." She looked up and noticed that the team was still standing there, she got into her feet while helping her daughter to do so. "My apologies, brave heroes, my manners seemed to be on hold, I'm Aleena, Queen of the realm of Evesar, of the Power Dimension." She glanced at Blaze and her son. "Welcome, guardians of Erif."

Blaze made a reverence, Spark did the same. "It's an honor, your highness." She glared at her, with eyes of question. "This realm is one I have never heard of, with all due respect."

Aleena let out a subtle laugh of concurrence. "Our dominions are unreachable from the lands of Erif, Kcor, Ekil, Krad and Eria."

"Uhm…Am I the only one who got lost at 'power' and 'dimension'?" Rogue said.

"Wait a minute." Shadow said and walked between his comrades to get closer to Queen Aleena and Sonia. "Your daughter still has to face justice, I don't know how your world punishes but in ours, she'll get a more than fair sentence."

Aleena put a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Evesar doesn't punish, mercy and peace are ways our ancestors taught us since the beginning."

"Oh…" Tanya approached them, frowning and growling. "You mean she'll get away with all the things she has done?!"

"She is my daughter and a rightful citizen of Evesar, the rudeness of your world will not touch her, I promise you she'll seek for better paths now on." Aleena said.

"If that's the case…" Tanya tried to attack her again but was held by Shadow. "Let me go! She has to pay!"

Tails approached her and got in front of her. "Sweetheart, calm down." He looked at Sonia, the look of regret, guilt an suffering spoke to his heart, he also remembered how powerful she was, he assumed Queen Aleena could've been even more powerful than her, he glanced at his wife again. "Our work is done here, we both overcame Akif's tragedy, remember that?" He caressed her face. "Maybe you'll disagree, but I believe her, Tanya, I believe she can be cured, of that hate, of that anger, just as we were back on the island." He kissed her forehead. "Tell me you haven't forgotten those wounds."

Tanya remained silent, with anger still beating inside, her fist was clenched strongly and her bite tightened, she began to breathe deeply while gazing occasionally at Sonia. Her fury started to dim slowly while her eyes trusted the ones of her husband. After calming herself down, she didn't say a word and just turned around, walking away from them to deal with her emotions.

Shadow approached Blaze. "What now?" He mumbled. "Don't tell me everything we went through was for nothing." He crossed his arms and looked at Sonia, remembering all of the missions and losses that had brought him and his comrades to the objective, who was literally a few meters ahead. "We should take her with us nonetheless."

Blaze knew a lot from the type of place they had been brought to, the power of those people was no strange to her, as she was one of them. "As far as I want her to be behind bars on the dungeons of my castle." She replied. "I'm afraid we would risk more lives if we start a fight with a realm of the Power Dimension." She looked at him with eyes of wisdom. "A catastrophe, Shadow."

Shadow grunted and turned to look at Sonia again. "Then we failed the mission."

"I wouldn't see it that way." Blaze argued. "Lately, I've been feeling something new, yet familiar, coming from these lands." She lowered her head. "Something…dangerous."

"I don't understand." Shadow said with honesty.

"I know." Blaze responded. "Otherwise, you would be immensely afraid and unsure of everything."

Aleena closed her eyes all of a sudden and remained silent for about a minute, getting glares of confusion and uncertainty, she then opened them and looked at her daughter. "And once again, my fears have threatened the destiny of many."

"What? What's happening?" Tails asked.

"I've made a terrible mistake." Aleena said. "The coalition has sensed the portal I used to bring all of you here."

Blaze covered her mouth with anguish. Shadow looked at her with confusion. "What is she talking about?" He inquired.

"I underestimated their knowledge." Aleena said. "They know."

"They? Who are they?" Tails walked towards the Queen, with worry on his words.

"Kcor, Ekil, Eria and Krad." Aleena responded. "I gave them a path to the unknown realms, the hidden realities."

"I don't understand!" Shadow hurried towards her. "What is going on?!"

"War." Aleena answered. "Against every realm beyond the Five."

"Yeah, that explains a lot." Rogue said sarcastically.

"Leave while you still can, wanderers of the dimension of the non gifted, this is a battle you have no place in." Aleena said.

"You are wrong." Blaze stepped in the conversation. "They'll take the people of our world, as soldiers, to fight a war they won't even understand." She said. "That is something I won't let them to do."

"But they already have, citizen of Erif." Aleena said. "An old friend of yours is already on the lines of the army of Ekil."

Blaze gasped. "Silver." She lowered her head and found out the meaning of what had been troubling her in silence, thinking about the friend she hadn't seen for years, fearing for his life and judgment. "With more reason, then." She looked at the Queen with eyes of commitment. "I will fight for the Unknown Realms, for the Power Dimension, for him."

Queen Aleena sighed. "And I'm no one to deny that purpose." She said, then looked at Spark. "Another citizen of Erif has the power and will to fight the upcoming storm."

"You've said so." Spark lifted his hands, getting them on fire.

"Whatever is this." Tails really hadn't the clearest idea of what was about to come. "I will help."

"Your bravery is admirable, young fox." Aleena shook her head. "But you four are from the dimension of the non gifted, powerless, lacking of our gifts."

"Thanks for that." Rogue frowned and crossed her arms.

"Is not a question, Queen of Evesar." Tails made sure to keep those concepts present, to add solemnity to his answer. "As you said, our people are powerless, and weak against yours, then we have no other choice but to defend them, with all we can offer."

Aleena looked at him, skeptical, but convinced enough to let them try. "Defend your people with honor, that's the only thing you need."

"Wait a second!" Tanya approached Tails, breaking the brief silence she had kept. "Do you even understand what we are getting into?!"

"A war for power and dominion." Aleena answered. "That's all you need to know now." An odd, dark shadow went through the place's architecture in a split of second, a minor quake happened briefly after so.

"What was that?" Spark said, looking through the place's windows.

"They got in." Aleena replied. "The war has started."

-Author's Note-

First of all, thanks for reading, I'm grateful with you for supporting this story. I'll continue it in a few months, because in that time I'll be publishing a new story in this same cannon: "Silver The Hedgehog: Rise Of The Gaolers". I'll start writing the first chapter soon. God bless you.


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